Ane Barcos/Aquí Europa
Spaniards are the citizens of the European Union with the highest life expectancy, according to preliminary data for 2023 published yesterday by Eurostat, the European Statistical Office.
In 2023, according to the report, the EU average reached 81.5 years, showing an increase of 0.9 compared to the previous year, although this increase was smaller, of only 0.2 years, compared to the level recorded in 2019, before the start of the pandemic.
The analysis shows that 15 countries exceeded the community average. Spain (84 years, 86.7 in the case of women and 81.2 years in the case of men), Italy (83.8 years) and Malta (83.6 years) stand out for their longevity. According to these data, Spain recovers the life expectancy of 2019, just one year before the pandemic. In 2020, life expectancy dropped in our country to 82.4 years, while in 2021 and 2022 it was 83.3 and 83.2, respectively.
On the contrary, the Member States with the lowest life expectancy were Bulgaria (75.8 years), Latvia (75.9 years) and Romania (76.6 years). Data were also collected from non-EU European countries with higher average life expectancy, such as Liechtenstein (84.8 years) and Switzerland (84.2 years).
Life expectancy in the EU since before the pandemic
Regarding the evolution of life expectancy since before the pandemic, in 2019, the report reveals that 18 Member States experienced an increase in 2023, while two countries remained stable, including Spain, and six experienced a decrease. Romania recorded the largest increase (+1.0 year), followed by Lithuania (+0.8 year), Bulgaria, Czechia, Luxembourg and Malta, all with an increase of +0.7 year. On the other hand, the largest declines were observed in Austria and Finland (-0.4 years each), followed by Estonia and the Netherlands (-0.2 years).
